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One Leg Uttana Vakrasana

One Leg Uttan Vakrasana is a soft lying down twisting posture which works especially on stimulating your spine.

Method

Lie down on your back; adjust your lower back by sliding your hips and tailbone towards your heels so that lower back is firmly resting on the floor without any gap or arch.

Interlace your fingers and place it beneath your head.

Exhale and bend your left knee; rotate your lower back to place your bent left knee at the right side so that the left foot comes close to the outside of the right knee; simultaneously move your head to the left side; keep sliding the bent knee up and closer to your chest.

Try as much as possible to keep both your shoulder blades and elbows on the floor.

Hold this posture for half a minute with normal breathing.

Make sure that your throat muscles are absolutely relaxed.

Release and turn to the opposite side by changing your leg and head position.

Hold for equal length of time

Benefits

Back Pain:Twisting movement helps stretch the whole spine thereby dealing with back pain or any kind of back problem including SCIATICA, SLIP DISC etc.

For Runners, cyclists, hikers, and in soccer, basketball, and tennis players

Hip Opener:Works on stretching your hamstrings and gluteal muscles. You can feel the stretch from gluteal muscles to the iliotibial band, which is running down the side of the hip.

Thyroid / Neck Stretch:Turning your neck to one side in this posture helps strengthen neck muscles and at the same time removes stiffness from the neck. It also helps massage your thyroid and parathyroid gland.

Frozen /Tight Shoulders:The posture helps release tension from your shoulder and is helpful in case of frozen and stiff shoulders. With regular practice of this posture, you will feel the stiffness gradually release.